SBI PO Syllabus & Exam Pattern
SBI PO (Probationary Officer) Exam
State Bank of India (SBI) conducts the online examination in two phases – Preliminary and Main exams for Probationary Officer/ Management Trainee posts.
(A). SBI PO Prelim Exam:
SBI PO preliminary examination will be conducted online and candidates are allocated a total duration of 1 hour to complete the prelim exam. It consists of 3 sections with a total of 100 questions and maximum score of 100 marks. There is negative marking in SBI PO preliminary exam and 0.25 marks are deducted for each wrong answer attempted by a candidate. It is necessary to clear the cut-off in all 3 sections to qualify for the SBI PO Main exam.
Note: Separate time limit is provided for each of the 3 sections. So the students appearing in the online exam once submit a section cannot come back to the same.
SBI PO (Probationary Officer) Exam: As it is.
Notification:
I. Important Dates:
| SBI PO 2021 Notification Release Date | April/May 2021 |
| SBI PO Apply Online Start Dates | April/May 2021 |
| SBI PO Apply Online Last Date | To Be Notified Soon |
| SBI PO Prelims Admit Card | To Be Notified Soon |
| SBI PO Prelims Exam Date | To Be Notified Soon |
| SBI PO Prelims Result | To Be Notified Soon |
| SBI PO Mains Admit Card | To Be Notified Soon |
| SBI PO Mains Exam Date | To Be Notified Soon |
| Interview Date | To Be Notified Soon |
| Declaration of Final Result | To Be Notified Soon |
II. Post/Vacancies:
The vacancies for SBI PO 2021 are schedule to be released in March 2021 (tentatively). For the year 2020, total 2000 vacancies were announced.
Here is the detail of previous year (2020) vacancies released for SBI PO.
| Category | SC | ST | OBC | EWS | GEN | Total |
| Vacancy | 300 | 150 | 540 | 200 | 810 | 2000 |
III. Eligibility:
Qualification: The candidates applying for SBI PO 2021 should be graduates in any discipline from a university recognized by the government of India. People appearing in final year exams of their graduation are also eligible to apply.
Age: Minimum age: 21 years
Maximum age: 30 years
Apart from the above age limit, age relaxation is given to certain category candidates as mentioned below:
| Category | Age Relaxation |
| Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) | 5 years |
| Other Backward Classes (OBC Non-Creamy Layer) | 3 years |
| Persons with Disabilities (PWD) | 10 years |
| Ex-Servicemen (Army personnel) | 5 years |
| Persons with Domicile of Jammu &Kashmir during 1-1-1980 to 31-12-1989 | 5 year |
IV. Exam fees:
| Sr. No. | Category | Application Fee |
| 1 | SC/ST/PWD | Nil |
| 2 | General and Others | Rs. 750/- (App. Fee including intimation charges) |
V. Salary:
SBI PO provides attractive emoluments to the successful candidates. At present, the entry pay of an SBI PO is higher in comparison to all jobs at other public sector banks. The basic salary is Rs 27, 620.
The increment is as follows:
23700-980/7- 30560-1145/2-32850-1310/7-42020)
(B) Pattern:
Every stage of SBI PO examination has different exam pattern. First and second stage is conducted via online mode. Third stage is a group exercise along with a personal interview. The final selection list is made considering the overall performance of the candidate at each stage.
I. SBI PO Pre Exam:
| Mode of Examination | Online |
| Question Type | Objective |
| Number of Questions | 100 |
| Maximum Marks | 100 |
| Duration of Exam | 60 minutes |
| Sections in Paper | 3 (English language, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning Ability) |
| Marks/Questions in each section | English language: 30, Quantitative aptitude: 35, Reasoning Ability: 35 |
II. SBI PO Mains Exam:
| Question Type | Objective and Descriptive |
| Sections | 2 |
| Questions in each section | Objective : 155, Descriptive: 2 |
| Time duration | Objective: 3 hours, Descriptive: 30 minutes |
| Sections in Objective Paper | 4 |
| Marks of Objective Type | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude: 60, |
| Data Analysis & Interpretation: 60, | |
| General Awareness about Economy/ Banking: 40, | |
| English language: 40 | |
| Time Allotted to Each Section | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude: 45 min, |
| Data Analysis & Interpretation: 45 min, | |
| General Awareness about Economy/ Banking: 40 min, | |
| English language: 40 min | |
| Sections in Main Descriptive | Letter writing and Essay |
(C) Syllabus
I. SBI PO Pre Exam:
| Sections | Syllabus |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Simplification, |
| Number System, | |
| Average, | |
| Percentage, | |
| Ratio and Proportion, | |
| Interest, | |
| Number series, | |
| Data Interpretation, | |
| Profit and Loss, | |
| Mensuration, | |
| Permutation and Combination | |
| Reasoning Ability | Inequalities, |
| Ordering and Ranking, | |
| Directions, and Distances, | |
| Coding and Decoding, | |
| Blood Relations, | |
| Syllogisms, | |
| Circular Seating Arrangement, | |
| Linear Seating Arrangement, | |
| Double Line Up, | |
| Grouping, and Selection | |
| English Language | Fill in the blanks, |
| Reading and Comprehension, | |
| Para Jumbles, | |
| Cloze test, | |
| Error spotting, | |
| Spellings, | |
| Phrase Idiom meaning, |
II. SBI PO Mains Exam:
| Sections | Syllabus |
| Reasoning Ability and Computer Aptitude | Puzzles, |
| Seating Arrangement, | |
| Inequality, | |
| Syllogism, | |
| Input-Output, | |
| Coding-Decoding, | |
| Verbal Reasoning, | |
| Data Sufficiency, | |
| Miscellaneous topics, | |
| Computer Aptitude | |
| Data Analysis and Interpretation | Bar graph, |
| Line graph, | |
| Pie chart (single or double), | |
| Tabular graph, | |
| Radar chart, | |
| Mixed graphs (a combination of any 2 of the above), | |
| Caselet/ Paragraph DI, | |
| Missing graphs | |
| English Language | Reading Comprehension, |
| Cloze test, | |
| Para jumbles, | |
| Odd one out/ Theme based questions, | |
| Statement and Paragraph Completion, | |
| Sentence Connectors | |
| General Awareness | Current Affairs, |
| Banking / Financial Awareness, | |
| Static Affairs |
SBI PO main examination will be conducted online and candidates are allocated total duration of 3 hours to complete the main exam. It consists of 4 sections with a total of 155 questions and maximum score of 200 marks. There is negative marking in SBI PO main exam and 0.25 marks are deducted for each wrong answer attempted by a candidate. It is necessary to clear the cut-off in all 4 sections to qualify for further process. A descriptive paper will be conducted along with the above mentioned online test. It needs to be completed in a time span of 30 minutes and the maximum marks allotted to this test is 50.
Note: Separate time limit is provided for each of the 3 sections. So the students appearing in the online exam once submit a section cannot come back to the same.
(D). Objective Test:
The above tests except the English Language will be available bilingually, i.e. English and Hindi.
(E). Descriptive Test:
The Descriptive Test of 30 minutes duration with two questions for 50 marks will be a Test of English Language (Letter Writing & Essay).
(F). Interview Process:
A candidate who clears both the Prelims & Mains Exam will be further called for a GD-PI session wherein they will face a panel of selectors discussing on their past experience and questions related to General Knowledge and of the Banking Sector. It is essential for a candidate to clear the Interview Process in order to ensure their final selection. The qualifying marks for this round will be decided by the Bank and the marks allotted to these rounds are: Group Discussion – 20 marks, Interview – 30 marks.